Never Let Go
by babyvfan
Summary: He made her swear to never let go of that promise, but how could she leave someone she loved behind? AN: Inspire by the tragic scene in titanic


**This fanfic is deciated to xxxMusarockz, prima, angelaalexandera, After17, and the rets of the cool people I met and talked to on fanfiction.**

**Hope you enjoy this**

She never gave much thought about how she would die.

Death was something she feared when she was a child, after it took her mother away from her and left a huge hole in her chest which to this day still hasn't healed. But soon as the years went by and she got older, getting tangled in the web of royal life, her focus shifted from the issue to other things-trying to survive living through the long years with an overbearing father who was never the same again after her mom died, going through hell with all the princess training she had to go through to portray the perfect young lady for the rest of the world to see, and trying to survive living with an overbearing man her father thought was the perfect match for her even though he was nothing but the devil himself.

But now, lying on a piece of thin board belonging to the so-called mighty ship Jared swore himself could never sink, stranded in the Atlantic ocean in the middle of a freezing November while the mighty ship everyone claimed God himself couldn't sink was sinking down to the bottom of the ocean, it seemed like a perfect time to think back about her life.

She supposes her life could have been worst. She was always given everything she could ever want and more. Her father never hesitated to give the best and only the best there was. She was a beautiful young woman with flawless features that made her a very desirable bride to every young suitor, came from powerful and rich family that has been part of the _old money_ family for more than twelve decades, and was the perfect image of the perfect lady everyone dreamt of their own daughter becoming. On the inside she would be portatyed as the perfect young lady. But inside, she would be screaming.

Screaming so long and hard inside her head, she was amazed no one else could hear it. But then, she realized, even if someone did hear it then they wouldn't care.

At least that was what she assumed.

Until she met him.

Musa slowly lifted herself her head up, her inky hair pratically glued onto her cheeks and back, and almost instantly shivering like mad as a slap of fierce, bitter wind blew. For the thousandth time she regrettable wished she had something else to wore besides the drenched black tread coat she was given to cover her light, flimsy dress, which was also soaked and sticking onto her skin.

Despite the intense cold weather, she still managed to smile a small, weak smile and miraculously felt a small dose of warmth rippling through her body as she looked into those beautiful, intense violet eyes still holding onto even though the odds were against them both. Eyes she could never get enough, which belonged to the man she only met recently but still deeply loved and cared about more than anything else in her life.

Riven was flowing near the board piece he helped her get onto so she wouldn't drown or freeze to death from being in the freezing waters, tightly holding onto her hand with the intention of never letting go and refusing to give up. Looking at him, Musa realized how horrible she was being, thinking only of herself when the man she loved was slowly freezing to death-though going much faster than she was. His clothes, a white shirt and khaki pants with suspenders, were completely soaked through, his skin paler than usual on the account of the cold, and his lips almost turning a bluish color.

When he first gotten her onto the board, she tried to convince him to join her, but refused because, besides the fact he was as stubborn as a mule, he saw the board could easily tilt over if even a light feather fell upon it and believed he could handle the cold waters.

Her smile soon faded away when she saw he was shivering too, but somehow more than she was, making guilt weight ten times more on her shoulders. Gently she used her free hand to slowly turn his head over so he could look at her, and then caressed his cheek while looking deeply into his eyes.

She saw determination, stubbornness, and affection for her he wasn't afraid to hide, but in the deep depths in his eyes she also saw something she was feeling right now at that moment but never thought she would see in his eyes.

Fear.

Till the moment she turned him to her, a lot of things were going through his Riven's head while he was waiting for the damn boats to finally come and making sure Musa was as comfortable as she could be.

He was wondering how long it was going to take for the arrogant people rowing the boats to finally realize there was still so many people who needed to be saved. He was thinking about his life, how he was basically on his own and learned his way around through a game of luck and poker, and ended winning a ticket to the great ship, Titanic, everyone claimed was the ship of dreams. And how he ended up meeting someone he never expected he would be attracted to, and she turned out to be the most important person in his life.

The water was freezing, feeling like thousands of knives were really piercing into his body. But after awhile, the pain seemed far away as his body was becoming more and more numb. But he barely noticed that while being wrapped up in his thoughts, but then broke out from those thoughts as he felt a cold, soft hand touching his face.

He looked into the dark midnight shade of the distressed yet beautiful eyes, belonging to his dark-haired girl, and placed his hand over her that was caressing his cheek.

"It's getting quiet." She whispered, referring to the lack of screaming the people around them were doing as soon as the last part of the ship went down and they were stranded in the ocean. For the past two hours they've done nothing but scream at the top of their lungs in hope someone would come to rescue them, but two hours had passed and no one had came and mostly everyone was quiet now.

Too quiet for her comfort, the silence being eerie and scaring her more each second as she looked at the people in their lifejackets just bobbling around and not a sound coming out from them.

"The ships will be here soon," Riven tried to convince her, but she could tell even he was starting to lose hope on that one. Under his breath, he muttered "If the damn idiots will get their heads out from their asses."

She almost chuckled, close to smiling, but soon caught herself as the feeling of seriousness settled in with her and she realized this wasn't the time for smiles or chuckling when there was more a than a great chance the ocean was soon going to become their grave site.

Before the second she was informed the ship had been hit and was sinking, before the moment she decided to stay with Riven on the boat for as long as possible instead of going onto the ship containing the rich women like her father and Jared wanted her to, and before the second half of the ship they were holding onto and then quickly letting go as the part sank down to the bottom of the ocean, she never gave much thought about how she would die.

But going through a slow, gentle death with Riven by her side seemed like the way right to go to her.

It was already clear to her they weren't going to be rescued. Time was dragging slowly, the minutes going on like long hours. They have wasted breath screaming and crying for help, hoping someone would come, but no one did. There were hundreds, close to thousands of them stranded in the waters, but a only a slim few-including herself and Riven-seemed to be the only ones left alive while the rest were dead.

_This really is the end_, she thought. Facing death was something she should have feared, but instead welcomed.

"I love you, Riven." She murmured, meaning each word with all her heart.

For a moment he looked at her in shock, as if he hadn't expected her to say such a thing to him, before he quickly turned away and his face hardening to stone. For those few seconds, she wondered what was going through his mind. She wanted to ask, but know he wouldn't tell her, and also wondered what was wrong with what she said.

She really did love him, more than anything else in the world. He understood her more than anyone else could even come near to, saved her in more ways than one, both physically and mentally, and really opened her eyes.

When she said those words, she expected to see a slight smile or for him to say it back to her. Instead Riven was still and quiet, his eyes turned away into the water, till he slowly turned back to her and looked her right in the eye. His gaze was boring right into her, growing more intense with each passing second as they narrowed into slits that were hard and cold.

"No," he growled under his breath, tightening his grip on her hand as his gaze grew more intense. "Don't you dare say that or even do that."

She flinched by his words, as if she received a harsh and swift slap to the face. If he was acting this way, then it meant he didn't feel the same way about her. She sucked in her breath, feeling like she got punched in the gut, and felt so shamed of herself for being such a fool. Tears rushed to her eyes but she held them back, not wanting Riven to see her cry, and tried keeping her voice even as she asked "Why? Don't you love me?"

He shook his head, making her feel more horrible, and then said "Of course, I love you! Damn it, Musa, how could you possibly think I don't?"

She smiled at that, but before she could tell him about her worries he immediately spoken first. "And I love and care about you too much to let you give up and say goodbye. This isn't goodbye!"

"But Riven-" He cut her off again.

"Listen to me, Musa," he told her. "You are going to make it out of here." He sounded so sure and confident in it, she wanted to believe. He smiled assuring at her, already seeing it now. Musa rescued and being happy with her life, a new life that was a far cry from the demanding, suffocating one she was wanted to escape from. He could see her living in a nice, small house, where she would raise a family of her own and be a great mother to her children, make music and sing, and just be live life to the fullest. "You're going to make lots of babies and watch them grow. You're going to die an old woman, warm in her bed."

She let his words sink into her for a moment, her gaze casted away as she digested them and then turned back, finding herself looking deep into his eyes.

"Not here," he murmured quietly, loud with assurance and confidence. "Not this night. I need you to make a promise to me."

"Anything." She vowed.

"Promise me that no matter what, no matter what happens, with or without me, you'll never give up. Promise me, you'll never give up and you will never let go of that promise." His gaze was so intense, so serious she easily got caught in its' trance and found herself slowly nodding her head, the words slipping out from her tongue before she could catch them.

"I promise."

Smiling, Riven brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, then blowing hot breath and rubbed it with his hands to warm her up. "Never let go."

Time never seemed to go any slower than it did that moment. Musa had no watch, so she wasn't sure how long they have been waiting but it felt like nearly forever. To help make time pass for her, she looked up at the beautiful, dark sky, staring at the beautiful stars that were twinkling in the velvety black and shining some light in the darkness. She remembered when she was real little, her mother used to sing her a beautiful lullaby to put her to sleep. She sang the same lullaby under her breath, while holding Riven's hand.

Suddenly she saw light coming her way. Curious, she stopped singing to take a closer look and saw it was an actually boat coming back, with the main man flashing his flashlight and screaming "Hello! Can anyone hear me out there?"

Feeling a smile spreading across her face from the excitement of getting rescued, Musa shook Riven's hand to wake him up from the sleep he was in. Turning onto her stomach, Musa shook him again, this time his entire wrist while crying his name, still seeing there was no change in him.

"Riven! Riven! There's a boat." She cried out, her voice dry and husky from dehydration. Riven was still as a statue and quiet, his beautiful violet eyes closed, and his lips were dark blue while the rest of his body was sheer with frost-bite. Panicking, she felt his neck for a pulse and couldn't feel not even a slight beat underneath the skin.

_No_, she thought as a stinging sensation began burning in her eyes and she felt streams of hot tears running down her pale, cold face as she began to sob. She buried her face in his arm and sobbed, doing nothing but crying and crying and didn't intended to stop until either he wake up again or she cried until her heart gave out.

How could he done this to her? How could he leave her all alone? Especially at the moment she needed him to be with her?

Those were questions churning inside her head, but had no answers to them and only made her cry harder than before. When she finally cried her last tear and took in a deep breath, she looked up and then felt shock rippling through her when she saw the light to the flashlight was growing dimmer as the boat was starting to row far away.

"Come back!" she tried screaming, but her dry voice was as low as a whisper. "Come back!"

Her eyes darted over to the far left, where she saw the dead body of an overweight, dark-haired man whose arms were still clutching onto a ship piece he was holding onto to support him. Looking at his clothes, she could tell he was an employee of the ship. In his mouth, clasped in between his blue lips, was a golden whistle she recognized as the one he used to blow for help to come.

That whistle would be the key to getting her rescued.

Musa glanced between the whistle and Riven's face, knowing time was running out for her, and was torn in between two choices but knew only one could be made. She could stay here with Riven and wait until death finally comes to take her away, where she knew he would be waiting for her on the other side. Or she would have to let him go and save herself.

While she was going back and forth between those choices, the last words he told her were echoing inside her.

_Promise me, you'll never give up and you will never let go of that promise. Never let go. _

Those words were spoken so clear, it was almost as if he had just whispered them in her ear as a reminder of the promise she made. She promised him she would never let go, that she would never give up, and she knew Riven would never forgive her if she broke such a promise to him. It then began clear to her what she had to do.

It took most of her strength to prey his super-glued, freezing hand away from hers, and once she succeeded with that, she took her time looking into his face and memorizing each detail into memory so she would never forget. She kissed nearly all his face and then pecked his hand before she finally let him go, watching his body slowly got down to the sea along with her heart he was taking along with him.

"I'll never let go," she promised. "I promise."

****

"Musa."

"I'll never let go." She promised.

"Musa."

"I'll never let go." She vowed, meaning it will all her heart.

"_MUSA!_" With a jerk, she snapped her eyes open, and her balled-up hand lashed out and made contact with Riven's face, surprising him with her hard and painful hit, and he was knocked down hard to the ground.

While Riven knocked out and lying in pain on the ground, Musa sat up straight and ran her hands all over her herself, feeling her hair, cheeks-anywhere she could touch. She saw she was back in her dorm room, lying on her warm bed and dressed in her tank and jeans again. The TV in front of them was still on, the movie being played in the VRC coming near the end.

"That's it!" Her heart nearly burst out from her chest from the sound of that voice, knowing only one person who could sound so grouchy yet still was so important to her. With tears of joy filling her midnight eyes, Musa directed her eyes over at Riven and watched as he got himself off the ground with one hand cradling his jaw, which was where she accidently hit him. "The next time we have a movie date-night and you want to watch that sappy Titanic movie, Christ knows-"

It then all came back to her. With the night to themselves while their friends were away, they decided to stay in and watch movies. When Musa saw the last copy the video store they went to borrow movies had of Titanic, she begged until Riven finally gave in and they were able to rent. She was really into the movie, but then fell asleep not too long after Titanic had sunk and Rose was saved.

_Which meant it was all a dream_, she thought. _Riven's not dead, he's still here_.

"RIVEN!" She cried with joy, feeling tears well up and was flowing down her cheeks. She jumped out from her bed, ran into his open arms, and nearly squeezed the life out of him with her bone-crushing hug as tears were running down her face. She pulled back slightly, and then quickly buried her face in his shirt. "You're okay."

"I'm... fine…" he said weakly, trying to figure out what was going on with his girlfriend. First she made him sit through a movie he hated so much for its' sappiness, then fell asleep on him during the movie and nearly hit the living daylights out from him with that punch of hers, and was now hugging him.

It was official. He was never going to understand women.

His thoughts were soon caught off short as he felt and heard sobs coming out from Musa's petite body, which was shaking from the sobs, and then felt her hot tears dripping onto his shirt. Pushing all thoughts aside as protectiveness overcame him, he enveloped her in his arms and did nor say anything else as she cried, letting her have her moment.

As soon as he was sure she calmed herself down, Riven slowly pulled away from her hug and asked her about what was wrong. Musa didn't want to tell him about the dream she had, knowing he would only roll his eyes and think it was stupid, but looking into those eyes that always made her heart melt she found herself telling him everything she could remember about her dream.

"Did you follow through with the promise?" he asked as soon as she was finished.

"Yes." She answered, wondering where he was going with this.

"Good," he nodded. "I'm glad you did."

"What?" Musa asked. "Why? Riven, I had to leave you alone in the Atlantic Ocean. I had to watch you drown and I'm still feeling sick to my stomach from remembering that. How can you be glad about that?"

"Because you follow through with your promise," He reminded her. "In the dream, you promised me you'd never give up and never let go. I'm glad you did, even though it was hard for you. And Musa, whether it was a dream or not, whether or not that might actually happen to us, I want you to promise you'll never give up. Even if it means giving me up, I want you to promise me you'll never let go. Promise me?"

This moment felt too much like the tense one she had in her dreams, and just like in the dream she was completely light-headed and hypnotized by his eyes. Taking in a deep breath and looking deep into his eyes while using one hand to caress his cheek, she whispered "I promise."

He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, gently biting down on her lower lip. The power of Riven's kiss knocked all rational thoughts out from her mind, including her dream, by the strong power of his deep kiss and the only thing she direct her mind to was reminding herself how to breathe while kissing him back. She was slipping under his spell, and she kissed him deeply with a passion of her own to match his. The kiss only seemed to deepen and become more intense as Riven slipped his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him.

Ironically enough, the moment they were kissing was the same moment Rose and Jack were kissing in heaven after being separated for so long.

Slowly Riven pulled his lips away from hers, smiling as he saw Musa licking her lips like she was trying to taste him. "Never let go, Muse."

"I promise." She smiled. "I'll never let go."


End file.
